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Checkered Flag for Atari Jaguar FAQ

by BHodges

Version  1.0
Created  02/07/10

This document Copyright 2010 by Brian Hodges.  It may not be placed on any
web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission.

Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is
strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.

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Table of Contents

I.     Introduction
II.    Getting Started
III.   Basic Gameplay
        A.  Controls
        B.  Steering
        C.  Basic Strategies
IV.    Race Options
        A.  Color
        B.  Weather
        C.  Airfoil
        D.  Tires
        E.  Gearing
        F.  Drones
        G.  Race
        H.  Laps
        I.  Track
V.     Tracks
        A.  Green Valley
        B.  River Mouth
        C.  Desert Pass
        D.  Deep Wood
        E.  The Hole
        F.  Island Hop
        G.  The Gorge
        H.  Concrete Canyon
        I.  Sunset Strip
        J.  Arctic Run
VI.    Cheats
VII.   Game Review
VIII.  Version History
IX.    Contact Information

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I.     Introduction

This is a FAQ for the Atari Jaguar game Checkered Flag.  It contains
information on how to play the game and a mini-review.

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II.    Getting Started

Press B on the Title Screen to enter the Race Options Screen.  Use the Joypad
to make your choices and press B when you are ready to race.  For more info
see the Race Options section below.

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III.   Basic Gameplay

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A.  Controls

Joypad Up     Shift to Higher Gear
Joypad Down   Shift to Lower Gear
Joypad Left   Steer Left
Joypad Right  Steer Right
A Button      Accelerate
B Button      Brake
C Button      Hold for Cruise Control
Numpad 1      Cockpit View
Numpad 2      View #2
Numpad 3      View #3
Numpad 4      View #4
Numpad 5      View #5
Numpad 6      View #6
Numpad 0      Toggle Music On/Off
* + #         Reset

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B.  Steering

Here's how steering is described in the instruction booklet:

"Steering velocity follows a shallow bell form and with practice can be
anticipated for successful turns."

Huh?  I guess they realized that was clear as mud because there is a second
paragraph for clarification:

"While holding the Joypad down, the car will turn a small amount at first, then
will turn more sharply before lessening again."

So basically the developers decided to make the steering more realistic, but
ended up making the game nearly unplayable.

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C.  Basic Strategies

-  When turning TAP the joypad, do NOT hold it down.

-  I recommend using the cockpit view (Camera View 1).

-  Use Wet Tires in Rain or Fog to compensate for loss of traction.

-  A Low Airfoil gives you more speed but less control, a High Airfoil gives
  you more control but less speed.

-  Until you get the hang of steering, I recommend choosing Auto 5 as your
  gearing.

-  The Save Feature saves your best times and race options but NOT your
  Tournament!  If you want to complete Tournament, you must do it in one
  sitting.

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IV.    Race Options

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A.  Color

The Color option allows you to change your car's paint scheme.  The six choices
are: Red/Black, Blue/Yellow, White/Green, Red/White, Green/Blue, and
White/Orange.

As far as I can tell, this is purely cosmetic and has no effect on your car's
performance.

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B.  Weather

Weather affects visibility and how well your car handles.  The four types are:

Sun

The "optimal" weather condition, visibility and handling will be at their best.

Rain

Rain will make it harder to see and the wet track will make steering even more
challenging than usual.  Be sure to use Wet Tires!

Fog

Fog makes it very difficult to see.  It will also dampen the track and make
your car handle worse than usual.

Dark

Dark lets you race at night.  Visibility will be even worse than during Fog,
but the track won't be slick.  You must unlock Dark by entering a code (see
the Cheats section for more info).

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C.  Airfoil

The Airfoil can be adjusted to modify your car's speed and handling.  A Low
Airfoil will increase your speed but decrease your handling while a High
Airfoil will increase your handling but decrease your speed.

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D.  Tires

It's crucial to choose the correct tires for the current track conditions.  Use
Dry Tires when the weather is Sun or Dark and use Wet Tires when it is Rain or
Fog.

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E.  Gearing

This option lets you choose whether you want an automatic (Auto 5) or manual
(Man 6) transmission.

The manual transmission has an extra gear meaning your car will have a higher
top speed.

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F.  Drones

This option lets you choose how many opponents you wish to race against in
Single Race mode.  In Free Practice it will always be 0 and in Tournament it
will always be 5.

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G.  Race

You can choose one of three race modes:

Single Race

This allows you to run a single race on the track of your choice against
CPU drones.

Free Practice

This is the time trial mode.  Here you can race without any drones to try to
get the best lap time possible.

Tournament

You will race against five CPU drones on each of the ten tracks for the
championship.  You earn 6 points for first, 5 points for second, 4 points for
third, 3 points for fourth, 2 points for fifth, and 1 point for last place.

In Tournament Mode the Weather, Laps, and Track options are preset and cannot
be changed.

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H.  Laps

This option allows you to choose how many laps (1 - 99) you wish to race in
Single Race or Free Practice.

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I.  Track

Choose which track you wish to race on in Single Race or Free Practice.

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V.     Tracks

In this section I list the Tournament track conditions as well as my best
lap times and the set up I used to achieve those times.

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A.  Green Valley

Track Conditions
Laps:  10          Weather:  Sun     My Best Lap:  0:33:8

Recommended Setup
Airfoil:  Low      Tires:  Dry       Gearing:  Auto 5

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B.  River Mouth

Track Conditions
Laps:  13          Weather:  Rain     My Best Lap:  0:27:0

Recommended Setup
Airfoil:  High     Tires:  Wet        Gearing:  Auto 5

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C.  Desert Pass

Track Conditions
Laps:  10          Weather:  Sun     My Best Lap:  0:39:4

Recommended Setup
Airfoil:  High     Tires:  Dry       Gearing:  Auto 5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D.  Deep Wood

Track Conditions
Laps:  13          Weather:  Fog     My Best Lap:  0:38:3

Recommended Setup
Airfoil:  High     Tires:  Wet       Gearing:  Auto 5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E.  The Hole

Track Conditions
Laps:  15          Weather:  Fog     My Best Lap:  0:31:2

Recommended Setup
Airfoil:  Low      Tires:  Wet       Gearing:  Auto 5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F.  Island Hop

Track Conditions
Laps:  12          Weather:  Sun     My Best Lap:  0:37:2

Recommended Setup
Airfoil:  High     Tires:  Dry       Gearing:  Auto 5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G.  The Gorge

Track Conditions
Laps:  15          Weather:  Rain    My Best Lap:  0:26:4

Recommended Setup
Airfoil:  Low      Tires:  Wet       Gearing:  Auto 5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
H.  Concrete Canyon

Track Conditions
Laps:  12          Weather:  Rain    My Best Lap:  0:29:8

Recommended Setup
Airfoil:  Low      Tires:  Wet       Gearing:  Auto 5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I.  Sunset Strip

Track Conditions
Laps:  14          Weather:  Sun     My Best Lap:  0:27:9

Recommended Setup
Airfoil:  Low      Tires:  Dry       Gearing:  Auto 5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
J.  Arctic Run

Track Conditions
Laps:  10          Weather:  Sun    My Best Lap:  0:34:2

Recommended Setup
Airfoil:  High     Tires:  Dry      Gearing:  Auto 5

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VI.    Cheats

Dark Mode

To unlock Dark Mode, while on the Race Options Screen highlight the Weather
option and enter 8, 4, 7, and 3 on the numpad.  Dark (nighttime) will now be
available as a weather option.

Special Thanks go to the Atari Times for posting this on their website!

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VII.   Game Review

Checkered Flag is a polygonal 3D racer developed by Rebellion, the same team
that created Alien vs. Predator and Skyhammer, two of the best games available
for the Atari Jaguar.  So how does Checkered Flag compare?

Graphically, Checkered Flag is a complete dud.  The primitive polygons are
SNES Fx chip caliber and just look awful.  You'd think that the total lack of
texture maps would help the framerate, but no, it's just as bad as Supercross
3D!

As bad as the graphics are, it's the controls that kill this game.  The manual
proudly proclaims that steering "follows a shallow bell form".  The explanation
given is that when you first press the joypad, the car turns a little bit, then
a lot, then a little again.  While wanting to have a "realistic" control scheme
sounds in theory, it absolutely sucks in practice.  One other "interesting"
thing about the controls is the cruise control button.  Holding this down
will freeze your speed until you press another button or crash.

The physics are also out of whack, every time you BRUSH against a wall or
car you end up bouncing around (think Ridge Racer DS).  When you "crash", your
car will flip over and land right side up and ready to go.

The one bright spot is the soundtrack.  While not the best quality, the tunes
are catchy and are a good fit for a racing game.  There is also some sparse
digitized voice.

Jaguar fans looking for a good racing game should check out Super Burnout or
World Tour Racing.  Checkered Flag is one racer that doesn't qualify.

Pros

+  I really like the music.

Cons

-  HORRIBLE controls.
-  Terrible graphics.
-  No two player mode.

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VIII.  Version History

1.0   02/07/10   Completed FAQ.

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IX.    Contact Information

You can contact me at [email protected]

I would appreciate hearing your opinions of this guide and any thoughts or
suggestions for improvement.

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